chapter 8 sociology

What is the principal form of wealth for most Americans?

family owned home

What does the phrase "real income" refer to?

income that has been numerically adjusted to remove the effects of inflation

Some sociologists speak of an "underclass." Identify each statement about this class as either correct or incorrect.

-It is extremely hard for a member to move out of it -In many ways they are disconnected from the rest of society

In terms of annual income for a family of four, what is the poverty line in the United States, as defined by the federal government?

about 24k

Place the U.S. population groups in order from highest to lowest high school graduation rates.

asian Americans, whites, hispanic, American Indians

Identify the sociology research topic that most centrally uses an intersectional approach.

how do race, gender, and social class interplay in the experience of poverty in America

In Max Weber's theory, where does status (social honor or prestige) come from?

how other members of society esteem a group

Which factors are the chief bases of class?

income, occupation, education, wealth, lifestyle

How much higher is the average CEO's annual salary (CEOs of companies listed on the Standard & Poor's stock index) than the average worker's salary?

more than 300 times

This figure demonstrates that poverty rates in the United States are higher among black and Hispanic groups than among non-Hispanic whites.

true

In a study of the admissions practices of an elite New England college with a stated commitment to diversity, which applicants tended to be targets for admission?

upper- class African american student

Identify each description as a member of either the upper middle class or the lower middle class.

upper: active in local politics, owns a comfortable sized home, owns a small business

What does Max Weber mean by a "pariah group"?

negative status group that suffers from loss of social opportunity

What functionalist explanation for social stratification do Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore offer?

stratification has the benefit of matching the best qualified workers to the most important jobs

What does it mean when a mortgage loan is "subprime"?

the interest rate will be higher than usual

In the long run, a college education pays for itself.

true

Select the bolded phrases that represent accurate statements about childhood poverty since the 2008 recession.

-Childhood poverty surged after the 2008 recession -The economic recovery since the recession has benefitted the superrich and their children,

Identify each person as either homeless or not homeless.

-Felipe is an unemployed veteran. He sleeps in a town park. The police know him and leave him alone. -Annabella left her abusive boyfriend. She and her infant son stay at a free women's shelter.

Identify each statement about homelessness in the United States as either correct or incorrect.

-One cause of homelessness today is the rising cost of housing. -A large majority of the homeless have a history of drug or alcohol abuse or mental health issues. -The number of homeless families with children has risen in recent years.

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which began in 1997, differs from earlier forms of welfare assistance for the poor. Identify each statement about the TANF program as either correct or incorrect.

-Recipients must begin working after two years to continue benefits. -Families can only receive five years' worth of assistance.

Identify the statements about how class systems differ from slavery and castes as either correct or incorrect.

-The main basis of class is economic. -Individuals have some ability to move between social classes.

Which U.S. employment sectors were hit hardest by the recession in 2008?

-finance, construction, real estate

French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu emphasizes the importance of "cultural capital" in determining a child's later social class. Which are examples of cultural capital?

-having parents who help with homework -attendance at elite private schools

Which factors may make it harder for people with college degrees to find work in the future?

-increased competition from others with college degrees -increased workplace automation -increased competition from overseas workers

Which are main causes behind rising economic inequality in the United States over the past few decades?

-the declining role of governments - economic globalization

By which criteria does Erik Olin Wright differentiate the class locations of the workers who must sell their labor power?

-the relationship to authority -the possession of skills or expertise

Identify each statement about the working poor as either correct or incorrect.

A high school dropout is twice as likely to end up among the working poor as someone who finishes high school but does not go on to college.

It is impossible to know the future, but research on stratification predicts certain scenarios as likely for today's college students. College graduates are likely to outearn those without college degrees. The main variable explaining upward mobility in the United States, however, is your parents' income, not your college degree. You may or may not outearn your parents—it might just be a coin toss. But surely you will compete with highly skilled workers from emerging economies such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. Show Clickable Areas

College graduates are likely to outearn those without college degrees You may or may not outearn your parents

According to economist Simon Kuznets, social inequality naturally rises and falls over the course of a society's development. Place each label in the correct position on the curve to illustrate this concept.

Left to right -preindustrial societies, in transition, industrial societies, since 1970s

Identify each trait as being characteristic of either the proletariat or the bourgeoisie in Marx's economic theory.

Proletariat: earn money by selling their labor & produce surplus value with their labor Bourgeoisie: own factories, investment capital, and other assets & exploit others by benefiting from labor they did not perform. & control the means of production

How large is the American "upper class," as a percentage of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census?

about 5 percent

Place the professions in order from highest to lowest social prestige score.

architect, vet, firefighter, farm manger, truck driver, bartender

Identify the person who, in Marx's theory, is a member of the bourgeoisie.

factory owner

Identify each item as a sociological measure of income or wealth.

money received from an investment & a weekly paycheck

Match each profession to the correct social class, as defined by annual income.

nurse- lower middle janitor- lower class president- upper class cook- working class engineer- upper middle

Among the superrich, some people are considered "old money" and others are considered "new wealth." What is the difference?

old money refers to people who own wealth passed down to them by earlier family generations, while new wealth refers to people who made their money as entrepreneurs

How has public opinion about the causes of poverty changed over the past two decades?

people are less likely to blame the poor for their situation

Sociological explanations of persistent poverty are of two broad types: those that cite structural forces and those that hold the - responsible. An example of the latter would be -'s description of a self-perpetuating cycle of hopelessness, which he calls the -. Going further, -proposes that some of the poor prefer welfare to gainful employment, a state of mind some call the -.

poor themselves, Oscar lewis, culture of poverty, Charles Murray, dependency culture

Erik Olin Wright adds the category "contradictory class location" to Marx's theory of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Match the following persons to their social class.

proletariat- a miner in a coal mine bourgeoisie- the owner of a large restaurant contradictory class location- the head of printing press operations at a major newspaper

What is the single biggest reason why an increasing proportion of those in poverty are women?

single women are the more likely to be raising small children than single men

Which U.S. government programs have been especially important in keeping elderly people out of poverty?

social security & medicare

The phrase social - refers to inequalities arising not from local factors such as personality and small-group dynamics but from broad differences in race, gender, and -. Inequalities based on how such differences locate people in a social system are called - inequalities.

stratification, religion, structured

What reason is there to believe that standard measures of poverty underestimate the rate of poverty among the elderly?

the elderly have far greater medical expenses than younger people do.

Identify the reasons why many Americans are more affluent than any peoples have previously been in human history.

-access to cheap consumer goods made in countries where wages are low -increased productivity due to technological advances

According to sociologists, which are aspects of "lifestyle"?

-one's clothing -one's diet -one's recreational activities

Identify the elements that Max Weber includes among the bases of class divisions.

-one's control of intangible economic resources -one's control of the means of production

Since 1970, what has happened to the percentage of people on welfare in the United States?

it dropped significantly

If American households are divided into five equal-sized groups based on income, which fifth has benefited the most from the increase in economic inequality over the last 40 years?

the highest fifth

According to Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, growth of inequality over time is the norm in capitalist societies and has been the pattern in most developed economies—with one exception. What is the one exception?

the mid twentieth century